Willow: The Crow
by NeilGartner
Summary: Her life stolen from her, the Crow returns Willow to the Land of the Living to give her a chance to set things right. Buffy/the Crow crossover.
1. Chapter One

Beta Readers: Laura Smith & Colleen Brennan

Title: Willow: The Crow

Author: NeilGartner

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, no copyright infringement intended.

The Crow, its characters & terms are registered trademarks of Pressman Films, no copyright infringement intended.

**Summary:** Willow is murdered, but fate had other plans and she is returned to the land of the living by the Crow to let her to set things right. However, willmWillow's course for bloody revenge puts her at odds with Buffy and her friends.

Distribution: Please ask before you take. :-)

**Author's Notes:** Events in this story takes place one year at the end of 'Pangs' and when Buffy returns from L.A. after seeing Angel. This is a slight crossover with the movie and TV show, 'The Crow', with Willow being our avenging and unlikely dark hero. Also a BIG thank you to my Beta readers, Laura and Colleen for their very helpful feedback and suggestions in writing this story.

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**Willow: The Crow**

_People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens, that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow could bring that soul back to put the wrong things right… __Sadly, the soul that is returned can never be quite the same. It can be a force for good or a terrible force for vengeance..._

**Chapter 1**

**IN THE FAR WOODED OUTSKIRTS OF SUNNYDALE: 12:05 AM**

She awoke peacefully from what seemed to be an eternal sleep, but upon opening her eyes, all she could see was darkness. Her head started to pound with pain and her body was sore. As she tried to move her hands and feet, something was not right, she couldn't move. Her hands and feet were firmly bound, and she was tightly blindfolded and gagged. She struggled to get free but her attempts were futile. She stopped trying to move so she could figure out where she was. She began to feel around herself. It felt like...dirt. She was surrounded by dirt!

_Am I ... buried?_

Urged on by panic, her struggling paid off this time as she was soon able to get her hands free. However, she still was not able to sit up or move her feet. The dirt on top of her was too much. Snaking her arms upward, with one forceful push, her arms punched through the dirt and felt the surface. She felt the coldness damp from outside, the rain running down her hands. Slowly, but with great effort, she pulled herself toward the surface . Towards freedom.

She then removed the gag in her mouth and then the blindfold covering her eyes. She took large gasps of air as the rain fell on her body. Her vision was blurred and her head ache. Her next move was to free her feet. She pulled her feet out of the shallow grave and untied the old ropes. She didn't even notice the cold winds and heavy rains that were coming down on her poorly clothed body.

Everything she was wearing was torn, and soaked through. She shivered and twitched as finally the weather was taking an effect on her body. She looked around trying to see if she could recognize where she was. Nothing looked familiar.

"Where am I?"

As she finished speaking to herself, she heard a strange noise. It sounded like flapping in the distance. She followed the sound and saw a huge, black bird flying toward her. As it landed next to her, she shied away and hid her face. The bird made a loud noise, like a mid-pitched screech. This scared her even more. She turned her head back to the bird. The bird was looking right at her. Almost as if it were looking into her soul. It was speaking inside her mind.

_"Follow me..." _

She listened and looked confusingly at the bird. The bird flew to a nearby branch, waiting for this girl who sat in the mud. She began to rise, but her legs were too weak to support her weight. As she tried to stand, she fell back to the ground. She tried again, slowly this time. Finally she was able to stand and began walking slowly towards the bird. It saw her and moved on. She continued to follow not knowing where she was going.

The wind blew hard and cold, but the rain was light. Thunder sounded in the distance, lightning occasionally the night sky on fire. She continued to travel down the narrow, muddy path. She shivered with each step. Her clothing was simply a dirty red shirt and blue jeans. The shirt itself had sleeves that went as far as the elbows but was torn at the shoulders and the neck, it looked ready to drop off. She clung to it anyway because it was her only source of warmth.

She walked bare foot in the cold mud. Looking around, she could only see trees and, off in the distance, the lights of a nearby city that looked familiar.

_Where am I going?_ Willow thought to herself.

Soon after that, the bird flew by her and landed on a tree branch in a large tree to her right. Willow looked up and then heard the bird voice in her mind again...

_"Over there..."_

The bird pointed its head towards a clearing amongst the trees. In the center of it was a large and flat slab of stone. Bewildered, Willow entered into the clearing. It was dark, but the occasional flashes of lightning gave enough light for Willow to see. Drawing closer, Willow slowly approached it. She felt her heart racing. Something horrible happened here.

"This is... this is... where I died." Willow said, her voice trembling. "I died here..." The Crow flew and landed on the slab of stone. Willow stepped forward and touched the stone, and an instant jolt of pain hit her head. It was like that of a migraine headache but worse. Willow quickly grabbed her head with both hands. Falling to her knees, she closed her eyes and let out a short, loud scream. However, this pain was only the beginning. The memories. Everything came back to her…

Nearly one year ago to this day. She and Buffy had plans to meet at the Bronze that night with Xander and the rest of the gang. Except she had to stop by the library to pick up a book for an assignment first. Buffy offered to go with her but Willow insisted that she didn't need to and would catch up later.

That was a mistake.

As she left the library, Willow was grabbed from behind when she walked outside. A funny smelling cloth was placed over her mouth to keep her from screaming. She barely had time to kick or to punch before blacking out.

However, soon she later awoke to sounds of people chanting.

Willow found herself laid out on this very same cold slab of stone, her mouth gagged and hands and feet tied together. Torches lit the clearing in the woods allowing her to see, the eight hooded robed figures surrounded her in a circle.

Terrified she struggled to move, but two of the robed figures stepped forward to hold her down, as the chanting continued.

Whimpering in fear, Willow could make out only every other word that they were saying in the chant, but she made out enough. They were performing a summoning spell, a powerful one. One that required a human sacrifice. It was not hard for her to know what was in store for her. Willow fought harder this time, until she saw the flash of a knife and then felt the pain.

They didn't kill her, they only cut her so she would bleed out. Willow cried through the gag as she felt her life slowly bleed away.

As tears poured from her eyes, Willow wanted to scream at them. _Why! Why are you doing this to me?_

One of them spoke as if he heard her. His voice cold and unfeeling. "In time we will deal with your friend. The Slayer's life will give us what we want."

Willow's mind screamed. _BUFFY! Don't you dare touch her!_

With her remaining strength, she struggled and kicked out with her tied feet, managing to strike on of them. The hood slipped off and she saw his face. He was not a demon but a human!

He stared angrily at her with blood pouring from his nose and mouth from where she hit him. "Finish the ceremony."

The knife was placed across her throat…

The pain. All she felt was the agonizing pain. The pain she endured that night both physically and mentally. It slowly subsided as she opened her eyes to find the storm had passed and the sky had cleared. The pain died down completely when she was able to stand up. She was still in the clearing, next to the slab of stone. Deep inside, Willow hoped it was a nightmare, but reality showed that the nightmare was real.

_"You're awake. Good."_ said a voice.

She saw the black bird perched on the slab of stone. Willow looked at the bird confused.

_"Yes, I am speaking to you, Willow_." The bird said without moving its beak. "I am talking to you through your mind. No one can hear me but you."

"Who...What are you...?" Willow said in a quiet tone.

_"Someone who wants to help you set the wrong things right..."_

"They were talking about killing Buffy… " Willow whispered fearfully. "Is she still alive?"

_"She is. Whatever they have planned for her, they still haven't carried it out." _

"How long have I been gone?"

_"Almost one year." _

Willow looked back towards the faint city lights of Sunnydale. Her mind racing with a thousand thoughts, her very being burning with a rage that knew no bounds. She no longer felt the cold air against her body, she was completely focused on the task at hand.

"I need a few things first, and then we can go to work." Willow spoke in a sadistic tone.

**O-X-O**

**DOWNTOWN SUNNYDALE: 4:15 AM**

A silent alarm at a clothing shop was triggered sending a police car hurrying through the deserted streets to respond. As the officers drove up to the store, they were amazed to see a figure leisurely exiting from the large broken store front window.

The police officers immediately flashed their lights and sounded the car's siren. Slowly the figure looked at the approaching vehicle, not moving while the car came to a complete stop mere feet away.

"Freeze!" One officer shouted, as he stepped out from the driver side door, drawing his weapon.

His partner did the same from the passenger side door. "Let me see your… Uh, face."

Standing in the headlights of their squad car was Willow, dressed all in black, with pants, t-shirt, boots and long coat, however what truly drew their attention the most was her coloured face. It was white with black dye outlining her eyes and lips. Her natural shoulder length red hair was now coloured black as midnight.

With a sweep of her hands, she took a playful bow to the officers. "A very early morning to you gentlemen. You may call me the Crow… No applause please." She said in a teasing voice. "Now, for my next trick, I'll make like the wind."

The two officers just stared in bewilderment when Willow bolted across the street. Immediately and hot on her heels, the two Sunnydale cops started to chase after her. What they did not expect was for the brunette in apparent clown makeup to charge at the brick wall of the store on the opposite side of the street. Especially when she jumped high, landing flat against the wall and began scaling it.

Willow climbed the brick wall, gripping handholds that no human could have used, moving with the grace of SPIDERMAN. She transverse completely up the three storey building, and then onto the roof, leaving the two police officers staring up dumbfounded.

Willow ran and jumped from roof to roof. Leaping across alley ways and narrow streets, she kept moving until she considered herself clear of any possible pursuit.

With a rustle of wings, the crow landed beside her on a nearby ledge. Willow was slowly coming to realize the power she now had at her command. Strength, speed, able to performing physical acts that no living mortal can perform and that could be just for starters. Willow always admired Buffy and always wished to have her powers and talents. Finally, she had such abilities.

Suddenly, Willow remembered one of the reasons why she came back in the first place.

"Buffy." She murmured to herself.

**O-X-O**

It was a bright and warm day on the campus of UC Sunnydale. Buffy sat quietly on a bench, under the cooling shade of nearby tree, slowly reading over her notes for the day. Her mind was so distracted, Buffy didn't notice the person walking up to her.

"A penny for your thoughts. That's about all I can afford right now."

Buffy looked up with a start, she smiled. "Don't you have a job or something, Xander?"

"Well, I can't tell you how much life in the blue collar world sucks." Xander said, sitting down on the bench next to her.

The Slayer closed up her note binder to listen to him. She was always glad whenever Xander dropped by at campus to see her. On a few occasions nearly a year ago she came close to dropping out but Xander and Giles convinced her to stay in and she felt that Willow would had wanted her to go on.

"Tough day at the garage?" Buffy asked.

"Oh ya! A thing like a large raging fire would constitute a tough day." Xander replied with some mild sarcasm. "However, on the up side, it wasn't my fault. On the down side, this was the shortest job I had ever been employed at."

Buffy patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Xand. There's a job out there waiting for you."

"I don't know, Buffy. Working under the greasy undercarriage of a car had a lot more dignity than the drive through at McDonalds."

"Hmm… And speaking of McDonalds, are you hungry? I was planning to grab a bite to eat." Buffy stood up. "Would you like to join me?"

Xander shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"I'm buying." Buffy offered.

He immediately jumped to his feet, clapping his hands together. "Lead the way."

Walking together down the busy sidewalk, they weaved through groups of students busily going about their own activities, making their way to the college cafeteria.

Along the way, Xander turned to Buffy. "I heard a rumour that your roommate moved out a few days ago. Any problems?"

"Well, it had nothing to do with me. She was impossible to get along with."

"You've gone through six roommates in a year. They all couldn't have been that bad."

"She was a hummer." Buffy spat. "She kept wanting to hum to the music on the radio."

Xander stopped and placed a hand over his chest, gasping mockingly. "The evil little fiend! Why didn't you stake her on the spot?"

Buffy stopped and stared at him. "I had to live with her, not you."

"Yes, but maybe you're the difficult one." Xander said, staring back. He then leaned in whispering softly. "I understand you miss her, we all do. But beating up on your roommates won't do you any good. You have to face the fact that she might be gone."

"Don't say that." Buffy growled angrily. "I don't what to hear it!"

"It has been a year and we haven't found a trace of her. Believe me, I want her back as much as you but if she did suddenly decided to run off to find Oz, we would have heard from her by now."

It took all of Buffy's strength to keep from slugging Xander. After Willow hadn't shown up at the Bronze that night, they had immediately searched for her. They first phoned her mother's house, then every place where she might be. Next phoning their dorm, the magic shop and Giles home. After exhausting all of the places to call, they all started to search the campus, eventually spread their search out over the town. With help from Willow's mother, they pressured the police to help find her daughter, bypassing the 48 hour waiting period and getting immediately involved. But 12 hours had already passed.

After a week of no trace or clues, things started to look bleak. Buffy secretly hoped that Willow just ran off because Oz left, like she did after Angel, and she would eventually be found. Soon weeks became months and not one word from Willow. As more time went by, she started to lose more hope, but no one wanted to say out loud that Willow might be dead and Buffy was the last one wishing to hear it.

Buffy's hands balled into fist but she stopped and her eyes grew as wide as saucers as she looked past Xander. She tried to speak, but words failed to form in her mouth. Xander turned to look behind him, to see what had so strongly gained the attention of the Slayer. He almost staggered backwards into Buffy at the sight before him.

Standing just twenty feet away, dressed in a black long coat, was Willow. With her red hair glistening in the afternoon sun, she smiled a slight smile to her two spellbound friends and waved. "Hi."

Slowly, Buffy moved past Xander, taking tentative steps towards Willow, as if any suddenly movement would scare her away like a phantom. When Buffy got within a few feet of her, the Slayer finally realized it was no trick by her imagination.

"Oh, GOD!" Buffy cried as she lunged over the remaining distance and tightly hugged her long missing friend.

Finally ungluing his feet, Xander rushed forward to join Buffy and Willow. Together, the three embraced in a tight human circle. After a few moments, with tears welling in her eyes, Willow pulled away from Buffy and Xander as far as their friendly arms would allow.

Buffy was also struggling, to no avail, against her own tears. "Where have you been? We were scared to death."

Willow looked at them both and said without missing a beat. "I was murdered."

Buffy and Xander blinked back in shock.

Willow grinned calmly. "Don't worry, I got better."


	2. Chapter Two

**Willow: The Crow**

**Chapter 2**

In his home, Giles was busy setting about to give his living room a fresh coat of paint. It was something he would constantly kept putting off but today he decided it needed to be done. With all of his furniture and floor now covered with old blankets, Giles opened several windows to help air out the paint fumes.

Grabbing the first can of paint, he started to open the lid until he heard unexpected knock at the door.

"Coming." Giles said, moving to answer the door. He smiled, thinking if it happened to be anyone he knew, he might try and put them to work.

Opening the door, he was greeted by the familiar sight of Xander, Buffy and —

"Willow." The former watcher and librarian gasped in surprise. His first instinct was to glance to Buffy and Xander for an answer who where standing on either side of her.

"You might like to ask her." Xander said with a nod towards Willow. "We're still in the denial stage."

"I came back from the grave." The redhead announced innocently. "Well, it's not as bad as it sounds, except for the dying and digging myself out part."

Giles stared blankly at Willow as Xander shrugged. "See."

**O-X-O**

For so long, Buffy had hoped and prayed for Willow to return. However, she never expected Willow to be returning from the Land of the Dead. Sadly, it was another unexpected curve ball thrown at them in this entire 'reality' warped place called Sunnydale.

What made it worse was that the Slayer felt something amiss with her friend. Buffy could see it in her behaviour, and it reflected very much in the way Willow was dressed. The Willow that Buffy remembered dressed in bright and colourful clothing, but now it was replaced by black. Even when Willow smiled, it no longer seemed to be sweet or innocent but dark and slightly twisted.

The Slayer looked over to her friend who perched herself on top the seat of a wooden chair like a bird. Willow intently watched Xander helping Giles flip through a stack of old books they brought out from his study when she suddenly turned her head and met Buffy's glaze.

"Problem," She asked.

"No." Buffy replied rather too quickly. "No problem."

"Good, I figured you should be used to the dead coming back to life by now." Willow smirked in amusement. Then she looked worried. "You're not planning to stake me?"

Buffy almost stood up in shock by the question. "Of course not!"

"Just wanted to be sure." Willow teased.

"Here!" Giles said, obviously too busy to hear the two women talking. He pointed to a page in an old occult book he was leafing through.

Giles read the section aloud. "The Crow is one of many spirit guides between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. The Crow is known to help restless souls, burdened by the weight of their own sadness, to find peace and a chance to set the wrong things right. The Crow endows them with supernatural powers, vision, and to be their guide."

Xander anxiously waited for him to continue. "Well? Go on." He urged when Giles stopped.

"That's it." Giles said, turning to the next page but finding no more valuable information. "There might be more about the Crow in another book."

"However, the information you just read describes me perfectly," Willow said with a hint of amusement. "I'm the eerie Crow girl."

"This isn't funny, Willow," Buffy said softy. "We're talking about you."

"Do you hear me laughing?" The redhead replied with a cold look, then breaking in a nervous laugh. "Oh, believe me, I wish I could."

"Willow," Giles moved next to her with a book in hand. "Are you sure about this? I don't doubt something extraordinary happened to you but are you positive?"

"All right." Willow said with a devilish grin. "I'll introduce you to my better half to prove it."

Nearly on cue, they all saw a large black bird soaring through the open window. It headed straight for Willow and perched itself on her shoulder. They all recognized it as a crow but what astonished them was that it made eye contact with each of them, until it was staring directly at Giles.

Slowly, the former watcher studied the bird as it seemed to scrutinize him back.

He leaned closer…

"Careful!" Willow said, startling him. "He doesn't like it when strangers get close to him, he'll put both of your eyes out."

Giles backed away, with an uneasy smile. He could almost see the intelligence in the bird's eyes. "Of course, thanks for the warning."

"Now, if that's not enough, I can show you my game face." Willow grinned showing her pearly white teeth.

It was three hours later and the Scooby gang worked hard to piece together what happened to Willow and to identify her killers.

"Willow, we're not getting any closer to identifying that magic ritual they performed." Giles rubbed his brow from exhaustion from reading the numerous books for any useful clues. He felt that Willow wasn't telling the whole picture about the sacrificial ceremony performed on her. "Is there anything else you can remember from their chant or how the ceremony was done?"

"I told you what I can remember and I was killed when the ceremony was completed," Willow simply said.

"If you could provide a little more detail on how the ceremony was carried out, it…"

"Giles!" Buffy loudly interrupted. "Willow died and you want her to gave every graphic account of it?"

"I understand but this is important." Giles defended himself to Buffy. "Knowing how the ceremony was done can be just as telling as what was said during it. Everything I heard from Willow suggests that they summoned something and we must know what it was. If they're planning to use it against you, we must know everything about it."

Xander sat at the living room table offering a cracker to the crow which hungrily accepted. He looked at Giles. "I have an idea, why don't you give Willow a break before asking how she was murdered. These cultists waited a year so far, what's another day?"

The three of them soon erupted into a three way argument. Willow sat quietly, watching them when the crow stopped picking away at the cracker to look directly at her. She heard it speaking in her mind.

_"There is another way…"_

Willow listened to her spirit guide and after hearing its helpful suggestion she spoke aloud. "My better half has another way." Willow nodded to the crow. "He told me that I can project my experiences on another, it's… It's difficult to explain, let alone repeat what my birdie said but the short version is that when I touch one of you, I can make you re-experience what I went through that night. Everything."

Giles seriously pondered for a second over what he just heard. "Everything?" he asked with a slight edge of nervousness.

"Everything I heard, thought, smelled, saw and even felt you will experience." Willow said in an unmistakably ominous tone. "I'm able to control it to a degree, so I can shield you somewhat from the more extreme sensations, but you will still feel what I went through."

"We're talking something like a Vulcan mind meld?" Xander said.

Willow grinned. "Not exactly but close enough."

Slowly, Giles removed his glasses and placed them on the table. "What do I have to do?"

Willow moved towards him and gestured to a nearby chair. "You may want to sit."

With a nod, Giles sat down and tried to make himself comfortable, even though his heart was almost pounding through his chest at what might be coming next.

Standing before him, Willow rubbed her hands together briefly. As she did, Xander and Buffy stood, moving to a position to watch. Just then, Willow took in a deep breath, holding it before releasing it as her head tilted down toward the floor. Watching, they noticed that her red hair slowly turned to pitch black. When Willow raised her head again, they all saw that her hair wasn't the only thing was changed, her face was now ghostly white, with her eyes and mouth highlighted in black.

Xander stared in disbelief, Buffy gasped quietly, but Giles looked up at Willow in awe, his never ending curiosity in the supernatural was now helping to overcome his fear. This was a new experience with something rarely encountered, if the lack of information on the Crow in his occult books gave any indication. He wanted to learn more about the Crow, especially if Willow could communicate with it.

Willow bent down to him, placing her hands on either side of his head. She whispered to him. "Are you sure you wish to go through with this, Giles? I can't guarantee how much I can shield you… You could even feel me dying… My terror… It could be too much."

Giles tried to put on a brave front but it did not look too convincing. "I trust you and it's important to find out who did this to you and to stop them."

Her fingers tightened slightly about his head. Willow whispered again.

"Remember, whatever you experience, it's not happening to you, keep thinking that. Oh yes, and try not to have a heart attack."

"Not funny, Willow."

"Sorry, Giles but I have been finding a lot of stuff funny lately." Willow replied flatly. "Death does that to you."

"Can we get this over with before I change my mind?" Giles was starting to have second thoughts about letting Willow run amok in his head.

"On three," Willow said before counting up. "One… Two… THREE."

Xander and Buffy were watching it all when Giles body suddenly jerked and convulsed. He breathed through clenched teeth before letting out a long agonizing scream, as if being killed. Seeing enough, Buffy grabbed Willow and pulled her away from Giles.

"Giles!" Buffy shouted as she knelt over him. Xander quickly joined her beside Giles. The former watcher looked pale as he opened his eyes. They all saw the look of horror in them.

He spoke in a faint whisper. "They… What they did to her was inhuman!"

Giles looked past Xander and Buffy to Willow. Their eyes met and they shared a look of understanding before he buried his face in his hands, trying to force out the horrible experience that Willow showed him, but ex-watcher couldn't completely push the what she had shown to him from his mind.

"Oh, GOD!" He quietly bawled. Humans did this to her, not vampires, not demons or other creatures of the night but HUMANS. People like that do not deserve to live.

"Oh, God." Giles wanted to kill them all for Willow.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder and Giles found him staring up at her. With her white face and black outlined eyes and mouth, her face looked somehow sadder now. "I'm sorry."

Giles gathered himself and assured her. "Please don't be, you have been through enough to start feeling guilty now."

He looked to Buffy and Xander who remained by his side, waiting, not sure what to say or do.

"I'm fine." Giles told them as he slowly regained some of his composure. "I found out a lot more than the type of summoning ceremony they did."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"I recognized the bastard that Willow saw before they killed her."

"Who is he?" Willow said.

"He attends my classes at the college." Giles saw the confusion in Willow's expression. He remembered that she did not know what occurred in the year she was gone.

"I got a night job teaching at the college seven months ago." He explained. "The bastard is one of my students."

Willow eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Do you have a name?"

"Jason Hanson." Giles said. "I always found something odd about him."

"Where is he?" Willow demanded. "Does he live on campus?"

Giles thought hard before answering. "I don't remember… "

"Don't bother, I found him. He lives off campus" Buffy said, standing next to Giles phone, holding an open telephone book. "I got his phone number and address right here."

Willow went to Buffy's side to look herself before ripping the page right from the phone book. "I'll deal with him and find out who the others are."

"We all should go." Xander suggested. "Strength in numbers never does hurt."

"No." Willow shook her head. "We have no idea what they might have if they're into the dark arts. I should go and you should all find out what they summoned forth."

Without saying another word, Willow headed for the door, pocketing the torn telephone page.

She opened the door before realizing that Buffy was following her. Willow stopped to look at her friend.

"What are you doing?"

"Going with you," Buffy replied. "You might be the Crow, but I'm still the Slayer. The two of us together can deal with them and anything they might have called up. Besides, I'm looking forward to putting the fear of God into them."

"But they're after you." Willow pleaded. "It'll be dangerous."

"Anymore dangerous than what? Vampires? Demons? Ogres? Trolls?" Buffy said, patting Willow on the shoulder. "They might know about me but not you. You're our wild card. Come on, let's see what a Slayer and the Crow can do together."

Willow nodded. "All right, let's go." She then looked to Giles and Xander. "You two stay here and find out about the ceremony they performed."

Willow walked outside with Buffy right behind her. She waited as Buffy closed the door behind her.

Buffy started to walk across the court. "I can't wait to get my hands on these people. I just might forgo the rule about the Slayer not harming humans because these people are monsters of the worse sort."

"Buffy?"

She turned to see Willow standing next to the fountain not following her. The Slayer walked back to her. "Something wrong?"

"No. I just want to say this because I might not have a chance later on." Willow looked uncomfortable for a moment, biting down on her lower lip, fighting for words and struggling to make eye contact with her. "You're my friend, Buffy, and one of the reasons I came back was to protect you."

"Will, I … I don't know what to say." Buffy said, feeling a tear forming in her eye and a desperate need to hug her again. "Saying thank you sounds very poor and inadequate, except I'm glad you're here."

Stepping forward, Buffy wrapped her arms about her and Willow happily returned the hug. They stood there for a few moments by themselves when Buffy pulled back at arms length.

"Let's don't jinx ourselves. If memory serves me correctly, when people start talking like this in the movies, one of them winds up not coming back. We can finish this conversation after we deal with this current crisis. Just the two of us. Okay?"

Keeping both hands on Buffy's upper arms, Willow turned her head and glanced towards Giles' house. She looked at the windows to make sure they were not being watched. Once she determined they were alone, she looked back at Buffy. The Slayer saw something in her friend's eyes as she spoke. Fear? Dread? Hesitation? It was hard to tell now with Willow's odd mannerisms and her white and black coloured face.

"I love you, Buffy. Please remember that."

Alarm bells sounded in the Slayer's mind from the tone in Willow's voice and the look in her eyes but it came too late. Willow's hands gripped Buffy's arms tightly before the Slayer found herself being violently twisted around and roughly jerked backwards. Holding Buffy against her, Willow wrapped her powerful arms around the Slayer's neck, placing her in a sleeper hold, cutting off the blood supply to the brain.

"Willow… What are you…!" Buffy only managed to gasp out as she fought to free herself. She grabbed the arm that was locked about her neck to pull it away, but she could not budge it. Buffy did not realize just how strong Willow had become until now.

Willow kept her strong hold on the struggling Slayer as Buffy slowly lost strength. A few moments later, the Slayer's arms dropped limply to her sides and her knees buckled. When Willow was sure that Buffy was truly unconscious, she very gently lowered her friend to the ground.

"I'm sorry!" She cried softly to Buffy, even though she could not possibly hear her. "This is not a job for a Slayer but a Crow... I don't what you to be a part of what I'm going to do."

Willow knelt down and hugged her one last time before dragging Buffy back to Giles' front door and giving it three loud pounds with her fist. Then she ran off quickly to start her hunt for her killers. With the sun setting over the city, the crow took to the sky following her.

Tonight, Willow Rosenberg was no more.

Tonight, she was the Crow.


	3. Chapter Three

**Willow: The Crow**

**Chapter 3**

"What's up?"

"I just heard something through the grape vine."

"What did the grape vine tell you?"

"A few people on campus saw her with Buffy today."

"Nick, I hate these guessing games."

"What did I say about using our names over the phone!"

"Many apologies, oh great one." Jason grumbled into the receiver. "Who was seen with Buffy?"

"Willow."

Jason laughed. "I never knew you to have a sense of humor."

"This is no joke. One of our members saw her with Buffy and her friend Xander… Alive and well."

Jason stopped laughing. "If this is true then there is something at work here, because Willow shouldn't be up and about and breathing."

"I've decided to step things up. I'm assembling the group tomorrow to put the ceremony into action."

"Are you sure it has matured enough? If it's not done right everything will be ruined and all of the work and waiting will be for nothing."

"I think it is ready; and we have to make quick plans to catch ourselves a Slayer."

"It shouldn't be hard, she's the hero type. We just need the right bait and she'll come to us," Jason said.

"Be at the meeting point at the usual time tomorrow. We'll be waiting." Nick hung up the phone without saying good bye.

Jason placed the receiver back on the hook before exiting the kitchen into his living room.

He murmured to himself. "Willow, alive? That's a neat trick."

How did she pull that one off?

From what he remembered, Willow was just a third rate witch with no real power. There was no possible way for her to survive the ceremony they'd put her through. The group had sliced open her major arteries while performing the blood letting ceremony. She had been most definitely dead at the end of it.

With that thought running through his mind, Jason grabbed the remote off the coffee table before seating himself in his comfortable chair. He flipped on the TV to the football game, not noticing the large black crow watching him from the window.

Peering inside, someone else watched through the crow's eyes. Hiding among the bushes, Willow saw everything that the crow was seeing. She found it slightly disorienting at first but she overcame it and finally saw him. One of her killers, whose face was burned into her memory that night, sitting comfortably watching TV…

She was going to change that!

**O-X-O**

She felt she was drifting within a sea of darkness when a voice broke through the empty void, like someone calling down to her in a deep well.

"Buffy?"

Struggling against the darkness, she fought and pushed her way to consciousness. Slowly, with incredible effort, she opened her eyes to the welcoming sight of Xander and Giles looking down at her.

"Buffy," The former watcher said with much relief. "Are you quite all right?"

The Slayer sat up, carefully rubbing her neck and trying to think of something whimsical to say. Glancing about, Buffy noticed she was in Giles' house, lying on the couch. Then she remembered.

"Willow!" Buffy said aloud, turning her head, eyes darted wildly about. Then she winced, holding the side of her neck. "Ow… Xander, Giles, did you seen her?"

"No," Xander said. "We heard someone pounding on the door and when I opened it I found you out cold on Giles' welcome mat. I guess Willow didn't want to leave you outside in case any night crawlers found you and wanted to even the score."

"That makes me feel so much better with Willow slapping that sleeper hold on me." Buffy murmured. "How long have I been out?"

"Nearly fifteen minutes." Giles said.

Buffy staggered to her feet. "She's going after Jason Hanson."

Xander moved forward to stop her. "Hold on, take a minute to collect yourself. Not to bruise your ego but Willow put you out faster than a candle in a stiff wind."

"I'm fine." Buffy pushed her way past Xander. "We've got to catch up with her."

"And do what?" Xander loudly replied. "Stop her from killing the people who murdered her?"

Buffy stopped and looked back at Xander, not knowing what to say to his question.

Xander continued. "And what if she doesn't want to listen to reason? Are you going to slay her to save the scum who did this to her?"

"I hope she'll just listen to me." The Slayer said softly, wishing it would be that easy. "If she kills them, it'll feel like I'm losing her for a second time. I don't want that to happen… Do you? You didn't like it when I went after Faith to try and use her blood to save Angel. Remember what you said? You told me, 'I don't want to lose you.' You were afraid that I might become something like Faith, is that what you want for Willow?"

Now it was Xander's turn to ponder what Buffy said. He had known Willow since childhood, and he wanted to cherish those memories of that sweet young woman and not one of a killer. Still, those people who murdered her did not deserve to live.

"Buffy's right." Giles suddenly said almost too quietly. "We need to stop Willow and make sure the ones that killed her are punished by the proper authorities. However, to do that we're going to need proof of their crimes but something tells me there are or might be more victims besides Willow. We just need to find it."

"Will wringing a confession out of one of them do?" Buffy suggested.

Xander nodded in agreement. "That's sounds great but we're forgetting one thing. The Sunnydale Police Department are the ones we're going to entrust to put them away, the ones that makes the Keystone Cops look good."

**O-X-O**

"Oh, damn it!" Jason cursed loudly to no one in particular when the lights and the TV blinked off. Just when the football game was getting good.

"Bloody fuses."

The lights in his kitchen were still on, and he got up and headed for the basement door. Jason flicked the switch to the basement light but it failed to come on.

Reaching for the shelf just inside the door, he grabbed a flashlight. Jason switched it on and the flashlight shone brightly down the darkened stairs.

"At least a few things still work around here." Jason walked down the stairs, letting the flashlight beam probe the shadowy basement left and right. The flashlights glow finally rested on the fuse box on the far wall.

Upon reaching it he opened the metal cover and started to check for the blown fuse, only to find the one he was looking for was missing.

"Huh?" Jason murmured when he noticed two objects resting on the inside bottom of the fuse box: the missing fuse and a light bulb. He pointed the flashlight around to where the basement light should be hanging from and found someone had unscrewed it. Then he felt a faint breeze and he turned the flashlight in its direction and found the small basement window was forced open.

"What the hell?"

Suddenly the flashlight was ripped out his hand and reversed towards him. It then pointed straight up under the chin of a woman in black and white face makeup framed with trusses of raven hair.

The face smiled. "Hello!"

**O-X-O**

"Hurry up!" Buffy shouted to Xander and Giles as she ran out to the sidewalk where Giles' car was parked.

A figure appeared under a nearby street light. "What's with all the yelling?"

Buffy tried to stop and almost skidded right into the new arrival. "Anya! Did you see Willow?"

"Willow?" The former vengeance demon said in puzzlement. "No, Xander left a message on the answering machine telling me to get over here as soon as I could. Willow is back?"

"In the avenging angel sense. She was murdered and brought back by the crow." Xander said moving next to her. "Now she's going after her killers, to take names for their new tombstones."

"Willow as a Crow?" Anya smiled in amusement. "She should be deeply honored, perhaps only once every decade is a person returned from the dead as a Crow."

"You know about the Crow?" Giles said in surprise. "Can she be reasoned with? Does the spirit guide hold any influence over her?"

"Of course I know about the Crow." Anya laughed. "Being a Crow is all about avenging the innocent and punishing the guilty. I've known several of them in my time as a vengeance demon: all of them happened to be women of course. There was this one Crow that was incredibly inventive in punishing the men who raped and killed her and her lover. I actually followed her around and took notes… "

"Anya." Buffy interrupted, growing impatient. "Does the spirit guide control her?"

"No. The spirit guide is only meant to help her, it does not control her. You must understand, the Crow is only fulfilling her wish. To me, the Crow is the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. It's a symbol of the strongest and most passionate emotions: love and hate. Willow needed both of those emotions to be selected as the Crow."

"I can understand the avenging herself against her killer fulfills the hate part but how does love become a factor?" Giles inquired.

"Willow said she came back to protect me," Buffy admitted.

"Yes." Giles said with sudden realization. "Willow's very last thoughts were of you. She knew they were planning to come after you and was willing to do anything to warn you."

"There you go." Anya said. "It could be the love for a mate, a family member or even a close friend. Just as long it's pure and selfless. Put those two emotions together and you'll have a force that can't be stopped."

**O-X-O**

Jason had his share of fist fights before but he couldn't recall being literally having his ass kicked up a flight of stairs by a girl dolled up like a mime from hell. Whoever she was, she was inhumanly strong. As he stumbled to the floor, he looked behind him to see her emerging from the darkened basement doorway.

He tried to get to his feet to run when the mysterious woman pounced on him again and threw him against the kitchen counter like a rag doll.

Jason held onto the side of the sink and pulled himself up to his knees. He looked down into the sink filled with dirty dishes and spotted a large carving knife. He slowly grabbed the handle of the knife as he heard her moving up behind him.

Still on his knees, Jason ground his teeth together as he spun about, driving the knife up, aimed for her chest.

Willow saw a flash of metal in his thrusting hand and instinctively raised her right hand to block it. Immediately she felt a burning pain shooting deeply through the palm of her hand. She stepped back in shock before realizing she had a knife blade sticking out the back of her hand, the handle pressing against her palm. Even as she stared at it, the pain quickly disappeared, reduced to an annoying itch. Slowly she flexed her fingers open and shut to her injured hand with no pain, even with the knife was still in it. She also could not get over the lack of blood. It was amazing! Willow smiled; her spirit guide apparently was not kidding about her being immune to any mortal wounds.

Jason gasped in shock. The blade was clearly jutting through the back of her hand, but she just stood there, staring at it with child-like curiosity. He soon realized there was little blood on the knife or from the horrendous wound he inflicted. The mime girl smiled before looking at him…

The smile quickly disappeared.

In one quick motion, Willow pulled the knife out with her left hand before delivering a kick to Jason's chest, knocking him down and flat up with his back against the kitchen counter. Before he could move, she plunged the knife down hard into his right thigh, straight through it and into the floor below, pinning him in one spot.

Jason screamed in agony before Willow grabbed him by the throat.

"Do I have your undivided attention?" She slowly hissed, kneeling down beside him.

Willow then grabbed him by the hair jerking his face up to hers. Jason drew in large gasps of air; all he felt was the knife buried in his leg.

"Who the hell are you?" He cried as his leg continued to throb and burned. "What do you want? Money? I got money!"

"YOU-DON'T-REMEMBER-ME?" Willow said incredulously, eyes glowing with hate. Her hands tighten their grip about his chin and hair. "Look at me! Look HARD!"

Nose to nose, Jason stared at her as Willow glared back. A heartbeat later, recognition registered across his face and his face became almost white as hers. "Oh, God." He whispered. "Willow…"

"Yes." She saw the fear in Jason's eyes and Willow relished it. Her voice became soft and seductive. "What's wrong? Looks like you seen a ghost. Oh, I forgot —- I AM!"

Jason started to squirm, wishing he could melt through the floor to escape but every time he moved an inch the knife buried in his leg and the floor cut even more into him.

"Please, don't kill me."

"Don't kill you?" The words rolled off Willow's tongue, with an eerie edge to it "Why would I want to kill you? Just because you kidnapped me, tied me up and sliced me open for some offering, while I was wide awake? Oh yes, and you killed me."

She hovered over Jason, staring into his eyes, her mouth so close to his that it looked like she was about to kiss him. Willow grinned evilly, her black and white face highlighted it even more. "I'm going to ask you some questions and you're going to answer them."

"They'll kill me if I talk." Jason whimpered.

Willow could smell his fear and she was enjoying it. Someone was afraid of her! Afraid! Before, she was always the 'nice' girl. Always behaving, following the rules, never making waves. She felt empowered being the aggressive one now, with the power and abilities to back it up. She stood up and looked in the sink where Jason found that knife and spotted a second but smaller one. Picking it up, she inspected it and looked rather sharp, it would do.

"My dear, dear, Mr. Hanson." Willow cooed as she knelt back down in front of him again, trying to sound like her evil vampire duplicate and doing a very fine job. She slowly brought the knife she held up and close to his face as he flinched. "You will be begging me to kill you if you don't sing what I want to hear."

**O-X-O**

"This is the corner." Buffy said aloud, pointing at the street sign. "Turn! Turn!"

"Oh, bloody…" With the screeching of tires, Giles jammed the steering wheel hard to the left. "Hold on!"

"Are you sure about this street being the right one?" Anya complained from the back seat. "I think Xander is getting car sick."

"No, the cramp in my leg from the lack of leg room is taking my mind off Giles' driving." Xander said trying to adjust his body into a more comfortable position in the tiny backseat area of the car. While he was at it, he made sure his seat beat was firmly fastened.

"Slow down!" Buffy said, staring out of the passenger side window, watching the house numbers, leaping out of the car before Giles had a chance to complete stop. "This is the place!"

"Buffy, wait!" Giles shouted after her as he quickly parked the car along the shoulder of the road.

Buffy did not listen and charged boldly up the sidewalk. Upon reaching the front step, Buffy kicked open the front door, smashing it in clear off its hinges. Stepping inside, she found herself in a darkened living room, only lit by lighting from the kitchen.

"Knock! Knock!" Buffy called out.

Her fists clenched tightly, Buffy had no idea who she might be facing. Willow, might already be here and if she was, Buffy could be in one of the most difficult fight in her life. If Jason was here, she might have a hard time resisting simply beating him into a pulp.

For a moment, only uneasy silence greeted Buffy before it was broken by the apparent sound of a window being shattered from within the kitchen. The Slayer charged across the room to the kitchen, ready for anything, until she rounded the corner.

Buffy skidded to a halt. "Oh, God…"

Bloodied, unmoving and pressed against the kitchen counter was the man they were after. His body was covered with numerous cuts and slashes, with a rather large kitchen knife jammed through his leg, blood pooling under it. Buffy felt queasy at the thought that her own friend did this.

Forcing herself to look away from the awful sight before her, Buffy's eyes came to rest on the shattered kitchen window. Hurrying towards it, Buffy peered through the broken window into the moonlit night and surrounding small homes and businesses.

The Slayer did not have much hope of seeing anything, when she caught sight of a black winged bird taking flight from the top of a street light. She took note of its direction of travel.

"Follow that bird!" Buffy murmured to herself as she jumped through the broke window.

Giles, Xander and Anya burst into the kitchen just in time to seen Buffy disappearing through the window. The former watcher called out to her.

"Buffy! Wait!"

However, Giles watched helplessly as Buffy again either did not hear his cries or just completely ignored him.

"Oh, bloody hell." Giles shook his head in frustration, he turned to Xander and Anya. "You two follow her. I'll see what I can possibly find here."

Xander quickly crawled through the window to track down Buffy with Anya hot on his heels. Giles turned his attention to the man lying at his feet. Slowly he knelt down to check him.

**O-X-O**

Willow hurried up the path, trying to place as much distance between her and her pursers. Having Buffy and the gang tracking her was not a complete surprise but Willow wished they had not showed up so soon. She had Mr. Hanson singing quite nicely before he passed out. At least she got some information to go on out of him before he did.

Drifting from the night sky, the crow landed on Willow's shoulder as she walked up a small alleyway. Ahead, a shadowy figure stepped into view at the mouth of the alley, blocking Willow's path.

She recognized the familiar form and flowing blond hair. "You found me! Well, I shouldn't be surprised." Willow laughed at the irony of what was happening. She was dead and her friend, the Slayer was out trying to stop her. "You're an expert in hunting things that go bump in the night."

Slowly, Buffy stepped closer, her words carefully measured as she pleaded to Willow. "I understand your need to avenge yourself, believe me. I feel it too, I want to make them pay for what they did to you but this eye for an eye can't go on, this isn't you Willow. I promise you, Giles, Xander, Anya and I, we'll get them and we'll make sure they all rot behind bars. If necessary, I will call Angel and his friends for reinforcements, just please, stop this."

Willow closed her eyes. For a moment, Buffy thought she might be reaching her friend. Then Willow looked up towards the Slayer, her eyes unwavering.

"This does not involve you, Buffy." She said softy but with a slight edge to it. "Stay out of it."

"I am involved. Just listen to me, revenge is not the way."

"Funny, you weren't the one sliced wide open and left in a shallow grave. Revenge will be just fine… For me." Willow tried to walk past Buffy when the Slayer grabbed her.

"I'm not going to let you do this Willow! You mean too much to me!" Buffy cried, pushing her back. "You'll have to go through me first!"

Willow stumbled backwards, causing the crow resting on her shoulder to flutter away to a safer spot. Willow stared wide eyed at Buffy and very slowly, she composed herself, straightening her black long coat.

With a nod, Willow whispered gently. "Okay, have it your way."

Then, Willow - The Crow - jumped to attack a rather startled Slayer.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes:** A very special thank you to my new Beta Reader, "kiranerys" who answered

my desperate call for help.

**Willow: The Crow**

**Chapter 4**

Something was not right and Nick now knew it.

Seated in a dark chamber before a large round wooden table covered by several dozen of lit candles, he continued to check the fate dice. They were nine unusual shaped dices carved from human bone, marked with various mystical symbols. They determined the balance of the various forces within Sunnydale, simply put; the balance between good and evil.

So far the dice were not showing him what he wanted to see.

For years they showed a perfect balance in the mystic forces within and around Sunnydale, with the current Slayer keeping the forces of evil in check. But now something new suddenly appeared, throwing the balance out of whack, like a bouncing weight scale. How it would affect the balance was impossible to determine at the moment but its presence was unmistakable and powerful.

A deep growl echoed from the opening of a large pit nearby.

"You feel it too my friend?" Nick said with a casual glance to the source of the noise. "Strange that this new presence should appear the day that Willow suddenly returned."

He rolled the dices again with the same result. "If she is the source then Willow didn't return for a mere social visit. We can't afford to wait, we must move tonight. Time to capture ourselves some bait."

**O-X-O**

Willow and Buffy grappled in ferocious struggle, each trying to lock the other into a wrestling hold. From her last tussle with Willow, Buffy knew that she was at least as strong as her and now, she was discovering that Willow almost magically acquired new and impressive fighting skills. She was matching Buffy move for move as they duelled in the alley way.

Demonstrating this new ability, Willow in one swift move knocked the Slayer arms aside, catching Buffy by surprise while leaving her momentary wide opened.

Grasping Buffy by the wrist, Willow twisted hard catching the Slayer into a painful arm hold. It forced her to bend forward, allowing Willow to slide behind her while twisting Buffy's captured arm up and against her back.

Wincing in pain, Buffy cursed herself for not being more prepared to confront Willow. She was actually hoping she could reason with Willow and avoid a fight but she was being proven wrong. She felt Willow's other arm coming up about her neck.

Buffy had little choice to either fight or let Willow put her out in another sleeper hold again.

Buffy decided it was time to fight.

She threw her head back, feeling it connect sharply with Willow's forehead, causing her to see stars and loosening her grip on Buffy for a second. Seeing her chance, with all her strength, Buffy raised her free arm up and from behind grabbed a fist full of Willow's long coat. Bending sharply forward, the Slayer threw Willow over her shoulder and roughly onto the ground.

Quickly, the Slayer back away slightly into a defensive stance as Willow placed both of her hands on either side of her head on the ground and executed a nearly perfect kick up. Buffy could only shake her head in disbelief, Willow really had some incredible acrobatic moves now.

Slowly, Willow turned to face Buffy as the Slayer spoke. "Listen to me Willow, I don't want to fight you."

"Then step aside and all worries will be over." Willow replied sternly.

"I can't do that."

"WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING THEM!" Willow erupted in hurtful rage. "Don't you care what happened to me? What they did to me? What I went through and how…" Suddenly, Willow choked over her own words. Black tears ran down her face. "…How, I hoped you would come and save me!"

Her friend's words hit Buffy harder than any blow ever could. A moment ago, she was confident that stopping Willow was the right thing to do but now she suddenly felt that she was being selfish. She struggled to find the words.

"Willow, I don't want to lose you."

"You already have," Willow replied sadly, the sudden anger fading. "On that night I died. I'm dead Buffy, a reanimated corpse with a soul, much like Angel and after this I will be returning to the Realm of the Dead. You can let me complete my mission and lose me or you can stop me and still lose me."

"I tried Willow, I tried." Emotions are now getting the better of Buffy. With tears welling in her eyes, the will to fight slowly abandoning the Slayer. "I never stopped looking and hoping."

"I know and now, let me do this." Willow softly pleaded. "I need to do this for me and to protect you. The law can't touch them but I can. Don't make me beg and don't make me fight you."

Buffy listened and felt drained of determination, slowly she lowered her arms and unclenched her fists. For so long, Buffy believe in right and wrong but unfortunately, the real world was layered in shades of grey. Somewhere, muddily in between was the right choice but Buffy finally decided. The Slayer lowered her head in defeat as Willow walked towards and stood next to her.

"Thank you." Willow whispered appreciatively to her friend." She placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Hesitantly, Buffy nodded without looking at her. She was afraid to look at her friend for fear of finally breaking down into tears.

"I have to go now." Willow said before walking past her. She decided that the less was said would be better. Just as she started to walk away, a scream echoed off in the distance.

Buffy's head snapped towards the noise. "Anya!"

Immediately the Slayer started to run off but stopped to look back at Willow briefly for one last time before hurrying off at full steam into the darkness, leaving Willow alone with her spirit guide.

Willow glanced to her winged friend who was perched on a nearby trash can. "Maybe we should go and help?"

The crow just stared back.

"It won't help if Buffy gets herself killed." Willow continued saying, as if trying to search for an excuse to charge after her friend. "It'll defeat my main purpose in coming back to save her."

The crow remained silent.

Willow sighed. "You know, for a spirit guide, you're not very guiding!"

**O-X-O**

"Face it, Xander." Anya complained as they entered a small parking lot. "We can't find them."

"Well, I thought they came this way." Xander replied, looking over the deserted and barely lit area. Maybe we should have gone right instead of left.

Anya smiled smugly. "Told ya so."

He turned to her with a grin. "Okay, rub it in but save it for later when we find..."

Four dark figures suddenly stepped out from the shadows behind them. Xander stopped dead in his tracks as he faced them before grabbing Anya and pushing her behind him. They were three men and one woman roughly in their early twenties and late teens, dressed in typical street clothes but he already sensed there was nothing typical about them. In all of his years of experience fighting along side Buffy he could smell out vampires with ease.

"Hello there!" the woman standing in front of her three male friends purred, eyeing Xander seductively. "Going my way?"

"No," Xander replied rather coolly, before pointing his hand in a random direction. "Actually we were planning on going that way."

The woman moved forward and her three male friends followed. In a blink, her pretty face took on the familiar sinister vampire appearance. "Well, I can be flexible."

Seeing this, Xander acted and reached inside his jacket pocket, pulling out a small wooden cross. "Get back!" He shouted.

If Xander was only facing one vampire, he could have easily fended it off, but against four, it was a hopeless struggle. The four of them flanked him from different sides before pouncing, pushing Xander to the ground despite his best efforts.

"XANDER!" Anya screamed as she fumbled for a wooden stake tucked away in her own coat pocket. As she pulled it free, a large 'no neck' male vampire, the size of a linebacker charged into her, knocking her to the ground too.

Anya held onto the stake and tried to stab him as the vampire knelt down over her but he easily caught it and knocked it away.

"I like it when humans fight!" The vampire smiled at Anya, showing his fangs. "It's no fun when they whimper like little puppies."

A second vampire joined him as Xander struggled against the two vampires over him. They held him down, pinning his shoulders to the pavement. Try as he might to get free, they were far too strong but amazingly he was not worried about himself. He cranked his neck to look past the vampires above him to see the other two male vampires crowding over the one thing that meant more to him than his own life.

"ANYA!" He shouted, then looked to the female vampire crouching close to him. He begged to her. "Take me but let her go!"

"Get real!" She laughed evilly, displaying her sharp fangs. "There are four of us and there won't be enough of you to go around."

"Well, let me weed your numbers down a little then!"

With a start, the female vampire turned her head in the direction of the voice but just caught the sight of a descending fist before it slammed into her nose.

Moving like lightning, Buffy grabbed the stunned female vampire and threw her off Xander. Seeing this, the male vampire stood up to attack the Slayer.

However, Xander quickly wrapped his arms about the vampire's legs, tripping up the night demon. As the vampire fell, Xander jumped on his back and starting wailing wildly on him with his fists. Keeping his eyes on the vampire he was assaulting, Xander cried to his rescuer.

"Buffy! Help Anya!"

It was not necessary, one vampire attacking Anya left her to go after Buffy. The Slayer pulled out a stake from her inside coat pocket and readied herself. Out of the night sky, a large black bird screeched as it dive bombed the vampire, flapping its wings and clawing his face, blinding him. As the vampire stumbled forward, trying to fend off the attacking crow, Buffy saw her opening and charged into him, driving the stake into his heart. A second later, the vampire crumpled into dust.

The large 'no neck' vampire holding Anya watched his fellow vampires being knocked about and even one was slayed before his very eyes. Releasing a deep growl he prepared to join the attack on the Slayer but a shadowy figure almost magically materialized beside him from the darkness. He turned to look up at a black dressed woman with dark hair and a pale white face. She grinned down at the crouching 'no neck' vampire with her hands behind her back, taunting.

"That's right big boy. Come and get it!"

Anya stared up at her and did a double take. "Willow?"

The vampire bared his fangs releasing Anya and lunged up to attack Willow. Anya watched the black dressed brunette jumped back and finally showed what she was hiding behind her. A small white sign post with the bill board still nailed on it, had the words FOR SALE written in red clearly across it. Grasping the makeshift weapon at the top post and the middle just below the sign, Willow drove the pointed end into his chest, dusting another vampire.

Anya stood up, studying the makeshift weapon that Willow used. "You slayed a vampire with a yard sale sign!"

"It was all I could find along the way." Willow shrugged. "Hey, but it did worked."

Buffy continued to hammer away on the female vampire who could do little to fend off the aggressive Slayer, who was setting the vampire up for the final wood through the heart staking move.

Xander himself was doing well, by keeping his full weight on the back of the last male vampire, delivering an unending fury of punches to the back of his head, until the vampire decided it had had enough. Showing superior strength, he rolled to one side knocking Xander off, sending him sprawling to the pavement before the vampire bolted up to his feet. It quickly looked about in time to see Buffy dusting the last of his friends and realized that he was now alone facing the Slayer.

But there was someone else he also should be worried about.

"Hey! Want to see me make you disappear?"

The vampire spun about to see a strange woman with white and black face. She smiled widely, eyes aglow, holding a wooden FOR SALE sign post.

"Do ya?"

He stared in confusion at the odd looking person before him. She looked human but her scent was wrong. This female smelled of death. He had little time to think this through when Willow rammed the sign post into his chest and through his heart, causing the vampire to explode into a cloud of dust. As the last of the vampire's dusty remains were carried away in the slight night breeze, Buffy approached Willow. The two women glanced at each other uncomfortably for a moment before Willow managed a smile and Buffy gladly returned it.

"So, what happens now?" The Slayer asked hesitantly.

Willow stood silently for a moment before finally admitting. "It felt like olds times fighting here alongside you. It was nice."

"Are you going to leave now?" Buffy dreaded the possible answer to this question.

"If it'll be allright, I rather be a Scooby-gang member again," Willow said. "I trust you Buffy, and I'll try it your way for now."

Buffy gave a sigh of relief. She moved forward and hugged her friend. Willow felt awkward momentarily before returning it. Willow knew that she was not completely whole. But there, in Buffy's embrace, she started to feel better, Willow guessed that even the walking dead needed friends.

Behind them they heard Anya. "Xander, you were so brave."

The two turned to see Anya helping Xander get up. They walked over as the former vengeance demon examined a nasty bruise on Xander's forehead.

Xander winced at Anya's not so gentle touch. "Ow, ow, ow, ow."

"Except you should stop leading with your forehead." She added. "That bruise looks painful."

"Weren't all the ow's enough to give the hint." Xander murmured holding his head, seeing Buffy's and Willow's approached. "Well, I'm glad that my favourite ladies showed up to save us."

"Favourite ladies?" Anya asked incredulously.

Immediately, Xander looked back to Anya and went into damage control mode. "Well, yes but you're my most favourite lady. That's why I married you."

Completely shocked at Xander's statement, Willow grabbed Buffy's arm to gain her attention and silently mouthed the words. _"They're married?"_

Smiling, Buffy knew her friend could barely tolerate the former Vengence demon before silently mouthed back. "Yes."

Willow shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Aw fuc…"

**O-X-O**

Jason sudden came to as he felt water splashing across his face. Gasping in fright, he looked up expecting Willow to be leering above him ready to continue torturing him, regardless if he was answering her questions or not. Instead, he found Giles beside him holding a now emptied drinking glass.

"Thank God!" He whispered in relief. You have to get me out of here, I'm hurt bad.

Giles just looked at him with a deadpan expression, placing the empty glass on the floor nearby. "Oh really. I bet you'd like me to call an ambulance too? Perhaps they could get here under 5 minutes, unless I give the wrong address."

"Stop screwing around!" Jason burst out loudly, feeling cold, the first sign of serious blood lost. "I'm bleeding to death here!"

Like a striking snake, Giles hand snapped about Jason's throat, smashing his head back against the kitchen counter.

"That would be terrible for such an upstanding person like you!" Giles said in an dark venomous tone. "Who is a member of a cult who murdered a sweet innocent girl for some insane ritual! I ought to leave you here to bleed to death like you did to Willow!"

"Wait I have information." Jason gasped weakly.

**O-X-O**

Moving up the sidewalk, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Anya made they way back to Jason's house. Since then, Willow removed her game face so not to attract any unnecessary attention. Strange as it might be, Anya wanted to be buddies with her now. Apparently she was a big fan of the Crow and was actually trying to talk to her spirit guide perched on Willow's shoulder.

"_You can't stay with them." _

Willow glanced to the crow on her shoulder.

"_Your time on this world is limited. In the end you will have to leave them. Make it easier for yourself and them, do it now." _

"Just for a while longer?" Willow gently begged.

"Did you say something Willow?" Buffy turned to ask, thinking her friend was talking to her but found the redhead quietly chatting with her bird.

"_Just for a while longer." _

With that, the crow took to the air and disappeared into the night sky, leaving a very sombre Willow behind. She was dead and her return to the land of the living was on borrowed time. Looking to her friends, she managed a smile, pretending nothing was wrong.

"Let's go. Time is a ticking."

Rounding the block, the four scoobies spotted an ambulance and a police car parked in front of Jason's house. They hesitated for a second considering heading in the another direction when Giles pulled up beside them in his car.

"Get in!"

Not wasting time, the four piled into his car, Buffy, Xander, Anya crowded in the back, and Willow hopped in the passenger seat beside Giles.

"What happened?" Buffy said to Giles as he floored his little car into the night.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Did you kill him?" Willow asked simply.

"I wanted to but something in me couldn't." Giles reply quietly. "Frankly, he was so pathetic he wasn't worth the effort."

"You did the right thing." Willow said, staring out of the passenger side window as they drove down the streets of Sunnydale, but not watching anything.

When she spoke again, it was so soft that no one in the car caught it. "Besides, unlike me, it shows that you're still human."


	5. Chapter Five

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the long delay in posting. I been having problems in finding Beta Readers and suffering from a bad case of writers block.

I have every intention in finishing this story but it will take time. For now, please enjoy Chapter 5.

**Willow: The Crow**

**Chapter 5**

"A Volbalt?"

Buffy stared down at the old occult book, focusing on the page with a rough sketch of a large winged reptile looking demon. With two large horns located above its head and a spike tail. Actually it looked more like a mutant dragon. This is what they summoned forth when they murdered Willow? The Buffy asked Giles who stood across from her at his living room table with Anya just to her right.

"A very rare and potentially deadly demon." Giles explained. "To summon one forth is very risky. From what I learned from Jason was that the summoning spell they used was geared to bring an infant Volbalt."

"Why an infant?"

"They're flesh eaters." Anya said. "To conjuror up an adult is asking for trouble because it could immediately turn on the summoners if hungry enough. A smaller one is much easier to handle and is less aggressive. The small ones are about 2 meters in length."

"Okay, it eats people, so why is it so important?" Buffy demanded.

"It sheds its skin regularly like our lizards of Earth but the discarded skin can be used to make youth potions." Giles explained.

Buffy's hands balled up into a fist. "They killed Willow for the fountain of youth!"

Giles nodded. "Among other things. The entire creature can be used in many spells and potions such as its eyes, teeth, heart but it has to be mature enough. In one book, it mentions that the flesh of Slayer will make the Volbalt even more powerful, thus increasing its potency for magic ten fold."

"So why didn't they grab and feed me to it long ago?"

"The Volbalt must have been too young." Anya suggested. "They grow big very quick and likes live prey. Otherwise, it would be like throwing a dead mouse to a cat. No fun."

Anya saw the hard looks from both Giles and Buffy, realizing she misspoke again. "Sorry but it's the truth."

Slowly, Buffy turned away and walked silently to the window next to Giles front door. Looking out, she saw Willow sitting on the small courtyard fountain beside Xander. The two were talking and not far from them was the crow.

"Did you find out why?" Buffy struggled to maintain a level of control in her voice. She wanted to smash something and burst into tears all at the same time. "Why did they pick Willow?"

Giles removed his eyeglasses, he knew that she won't like it. "I won't lie to you Buffy, the only reason they selected Willow for the ceremony was because she was your best friend. They… They thought it would be quite humorous at the irony that the creature that was summoned forth by the death of the Slayer's best friend would later kill the Slayer herself."

Buffy didn't speak, nor move as she listened. She just stared out the window, watching Willow who was walking around now, saying something to Xander who just laughed and clapped his hands together in response. Willow then bowed before him, accepting his applause. Through her tears, Buffy smiled as she watched them. It looked like old times.

"Buffy," Giles said to her softly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Giles. Whatever they summoned with Willow's blood, I'm going to kill it. Just tell what it will take to do it."

**O-X-O**

With Buffy, Giles and Anya inside the former watcher house doing their research, Xander decided to keep Willow company. She was quietly sitting at the fountain now, placing her hand into the running water. As always, the crow hung close to her. It perched itself on a branch of a nearby tree.

"I haven't eaten a thing since I came back." Willow said aloud as Xander sat next to her.

"I could get you something, I'm sure Giles' refrigerator is well stocked. We should know, we raided it enough times."

"That's not what I mean." Willow turned to him. "I'm not hungry or thirsty, I just feel fine."

Xander sensed a trick question coming on. "And that's good, right?"

"Good, yes but normal, no."

Willow reached and slowly took Xander's hand into hers. "What do you feel?"

His eyes widen to her icily touch. "You're cold!"

"Yes, like a vampire I'm neither living nor dead but somewhere in between but not to worry, I still have my soul."

Still holding her hand, his emotions hit him all at once. Xander had little time to digest everything that happened today when Willow came back or maybe even a slight case of denial to avoid the truth. Now sitting with her, he could feel the coldness of her skin, hearing her own words describing her new condition. The cruel reality finally set in that Willow, his dear friend was truly dead and only being kept here by mystical forces. His eyes brimmed with tears as he started to cry for her.

"Oh, Xander." Willow whispered as she pulled him towards her. "It's okay, I know I will be okay. There's nothing to worry about."

Crying softly, he held Willow tightly as if she would be stolen away the moment he released her.

"No, it's not just okay." He said. "You were taken from us. Oh, God, Willow! You didn't know what it was like, not knowing what happened to you. And now you are here to tell us you were murdered and you're not really alive and your time here is short. It's not fair!"

"Please don't make this any harder, Xander." Willow pleaded, suddenly feeling the need to cry too. "Lets not waste time dwelling on it."

"I'm sorry," Xander pulled away to wipe his eyes, he joked slightly. "Who said grown men don't cry."

"The guys with no heart." Willow said, pointing to his chest. "Something you have plenty of."

"Thanks Will." Xander smiled for a moment then pointed to her clothing. "May I ask what's with your black on black attire?"

"I don't know, it just felt right for the dark and mysterious look," Willow looked down at her dark long coat and clothing. "But it does look like I have been taking dressing tips from Angel."

"You can say that again," Xander laughed slightly. "But the new look is growing on me."

"Speaking of which, how is Angel? Did I missed much when I was away?'

"Well, lets see." Xander said, counting off on his fingers tips. "Angel is still in LA saving lost souls. As for what you have missed, you missed out the Gentlemen, the Initiative, Faith's return, Adam, another Armageddon or two, a couple small disasters. Oh! And Jonathan's brief rise to super stardom."

"Faith came back?" Willow murmured.

"You're not going to ask how we survived Jonathan the Superstar?"

"No joking, Xander. What happened?"

"You never liked her much did you?" Xander said.

"Not after what she did to you and Buffy." Willow's voice was so cold that it took Xander aback in surprise. "I wish she were here now to face me. She would get the most unpleasant shock of her life!"

"Well, that might happen after she finishes serving twenty to life."

"What?"

"She's in jail, Willow. Faith confessed to killing the Mayor's aid, among other crimes she committed."

"Huh? What?" Willow was dumbfounded.

Xander tried his best to bring her up to speed. "When Faith came out of her coma, she tried to even the score against Buffy but when that failed she went to Los Angeles and had a face off with Angel. She was trying to get Angel to kill her but Mr. Dark & Broody got through to Faith and she went to the police and confessed."

"I'll be/" Willow whispered. "What else did I miss?"

"You missed the entire Initiative and Adam fiasco. There was an entire secret government installation under the college and Buffy's boyfriend, Riley Finn was one of their agents. They were experimenting on demons to use and control them and Adam was their big experiment. He was part demon, part human and technology and like any bad horror movie, he escaped. Adam wasn't just a run of the mill monster, he was incredibly intelligent and was recruiting demons left and right. He had this master plan to build a whole new race of beings like him, part demon, human and machine. Adam started by have an army demons to be captured and flooded the Initiative holding cells."

"He was pulling a Trojan Horse on them." Willow commented.

"Exactly." Xander said. "However, to make the plan work he needed the Slayer to be there to fight along with the humans to insure maximum casualties for both sides but he wanted her to alone without her friends. This is where Spike came in. Adam had him plant the seeds of dissension among us so she would be alone at the critical moment but thankfully we clued in at the last second. We went into the Initiative base and had the big show down with Adam and used an enjoining spell to create a Superpowered Buffy to beat Adam."

"Hold on." Willow interrupted. "You casted an enjoining spell but who did that? Giles? Anya?"

"When Giles got a job at the college, he had this shy girl in his class. Major insecurity issues but she just happened to be a witch and she helped us out." Xander glanced at his feet but admitted honestly to his long time friend. "She sort of took over your role as our new wicca girl."

"Oh." Willow paused for a moment, letting this piece of unwelcomed information sink in. "How did you meet her?"

"During one of our small disasters before Adam." Xander said. "One of the classes in UC Sunnydale were performing evil deeds with mind control on their students while they were studying TV commercials with hidden mind altering techno-babble'. But she was apparently immune because of her deep mediations she performed as a witch. She pretended to be affected and later told Giles what was happening. Probably because he was the only nice teacher on the entire campus in the sea of dickheads. In the end, Buffy and us saved the day and Tara has been with us ever since."

"Tara?"

"That's the name of our new wicca girl."

"What else happened?" Willow asked

"After the dust settled against Adam, things didn't work out between Buffy and Riley and he moved on after the Initiative went belly up. For me, I'm a married man without a job and Anya is the bread winner in the family. Buffy is still going to college but she had it rough when you were gone but having Giles there as a part time teacher was a big bonus."

"I wished that I was around to help you guys."

"We managed, although barely." Xander said. "I won't kid you Will, things haven't been the same without you. If it wasn't for Anya, I don't think I would have made it."

"But did you have to married her?"

"I love her Will, and she loves me."

"Ya, but more than money?" Willow teased.

"She might be blunt as a hammer in conversations but she has changed."

"I know what you mean, I have changed too." Willow said, pulling her legs up to her chest to rest her chin on her knees, while wrapping her arms about them. "I feel a few mega bytes short of full ram but my spirit guide is helping me to adjust."

"What's wrong?"

Willow took a side way glance at the crow perched on a tree branch. "He said it's the natural side effect."

"Side effect?" Worried, Xander leaned at little closer to her.

"Bringing the dead back to life always has a price. Even for someone as powerful as my spirit guide. Wires are bound to get crossed." Willow informed while pointing to her head. "But I feel that I'm getting my bearings now, although slowly."

"I'm glad." Xander whispered. "So what kind of powers do you have?"

"A few but I'm still getting the hang of all of them," Willow said. "I have strength, speed and instinctive fighting skills like Buffy. Also, since I'm already dead I can't be killed and any damage inflicted on my body quickly heals up. Plus, I have a wild ESP sort of power which only works when I'm in contact with personal items or people. Nothing to mention the extra help of my spirit guide."

"He's your eye in the sky?"

"Better believe it."

**O-X-O**

It was another slow night in the Summers household. Joyce was cleaning up the kitchen, wiping down the countertop, she stole a glance at the clock. She wondered what Buffy was doing at this hour. Probably out with her friends and maybe saving the world again. If they were, she hoped they'll be successful because she was looking forward to the weekend and have her daughter back home for their regular get togethers. The house can be quite lonely with only one person under the roof.

Sighing, Joyce stopped and pressed her hand to her head feeling another of those little but annoying headaches coming on again. She started to reach for a nearby cupboard for some pain killers.

Behind her, the kitchen door was violently kicked inward and four men wearing black ski masks barged in. Joyce barely had time to scream before she was grabbed and a gag placed over her mouth. One of them stood before her, eyeing her appreciatively.

"Hello, Slayer bait!"

**O-X-O**

"Goody! Weapons!" Willow eyes lit up as she surveyed the small arsenal of weaponry that Buffy and Giles brought out on the table.

"The Volbalt demon can only be killed by beheading or inflict a wound that causes great and sudden blood lost." Giles informed them. "Besides being enormously strong, it is intelligent and the fangs are exceptionally poisonous."

"So use sharp and pointy weapons and don't get bit," Willow said, then she smiled as she saw something of interest. "Oooooo, a Samurai Katanna!"

"Yes." Buffy stared at her surprise as Willow picked up the Japanese weapon. "How did you know?"

"I'm not sure." Willow drew the finely crafted sword from its sheath, eyeing the razor sharp blade. She was puzzled too by her knowledge of the weapon. "The sword is in excellent condition, it pulled easily from the scabbard."

"Is this some sort of instinctive knowledge like your fighting skills?" Xander asked.

Willow shrugged as she twirled the sword, making lazy but quick cutting arcs in the air. It felt good in her hand and she knew how to wield it. "I guess so. Can I have this?"

"Sure." Buffy nodded as she picked up a battle axe for her weapon of choice. "I got it off a vampire who considered himself a martial arts freak. It didn't do him much good against me although

"Thanks." Willow said as she eyed the blade, admiring the craftsmanship. This sword was the real deal and not some fake over the shelf knockoff. Slowly, she felled along her top teeth with her tongue thinking of all the fun she'd have with this weapon.

Then they heard the knock on the door. The others weren't concerned as Xander went to the door but Willow was suddenly on edge. Buffy watched her as she transformed in full Crow mode. Willow's hair darkened and she put her game face on.

"Who's that!" Willow hissed as her hand tightening on the sword.

"Easy, Will." Buffy assured her. "I made a quick call and brought in some extra firepower in the magic department."

Willow looked suspicious. "Tara?"

"Yes, but you'll like her." Buffy said. "Maybe the two of you can talk magic."

"Who needs magic while I'm the Crow." Willow sneered slightly, remembering her rough and near disastrous attempts at magic. Also not entirely appreciative at the thought of being replaced while she was gone... dead or not. "I'm a warrior now like you, not a half-wit witch."

Buffy picked up on Willow's obvious hostility. "Give her a chance. We were all slow in accepting her into the group, especially me. To welcome her meant that in some way I was giving up on finding you. I gave her a hard time enough, please don't add to it."

For a moment, Willow considered Buffy's words and finally answered with a nod. It was then Xander let in a girl with long blond hair and roughly Willow's own height. Stepping inside, she smiled to everyone but froze dead in her tracks when she saw Willow.

Xander moved beside her, gesturing between the two women. "Ah, Tara, this is Willow. Willow, this is Tara."

Tara opened her mouth, barely able to make a sound. Willow realized that she still had her game face on and holding a sword. Quickly she switched back to her normal appearance and sheathed the weapon.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"N-No, it wasn't that." Tara almost stuttered and continued to stare. "Your aura, it's so different. It's intermingled with something else, it's so radiant. I've never seen anything like it, except perhaps a rainbow. It's beautiful."

"Ya, I am different." Willow said unable to get over the way that Tara was watching her. She shook her head slightly, asking everyone. "Can we go and beat up on some bad guys now?"

With everyone present, they started to hammer out a plan of action. It was pretty much agreed upon that if they should confront the Volbalt, that Buffy and Willow would face it. Giles and Xander armed themselves with baseball bats, while Tara and Anya discussed possible spells to use against the cult members. They had everything just about in place in a short amount of time and ready to go when Giles' phone rang. The ex-watcher walked over and answered the phone. Strangely, he already had a sense of dread even before he held the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end didn't mix pleasantries. "Let me speak to Buffy Summers."

"I'm sorry, but who is this?"

"Let me speak to the Slayer or her mother dies."

Giles went pale at the threat but he recovered. "Is this Nick or should I call you Nicholas Thames."

Now the voice on the other end paused for a moment. "You're pretty smart for an old man, Rupert Giles. How did you find out?"

"Check the local hospital why don't you. I'm sure you'll find whatever left of one of your occult members there under police guard."

Buffy and the others were all now listening to Giles talk heatedly on the phone as Nick laughed coldly to the ex-watcher.

"You got one of my member's to talk, it's a bloody shame but that doesn't matter. Let to talk to Buffy now."

The Slayer stepped closer to her watcher. "Giles, who is it?"

Giles looked to her for a moment as Nick threatened again over the phone. "I can hear her Rupert in the background. We have her mother and I will feed her to the beast. Let me talk to her."

Slowly, Giles handed Buffy the phone. "It's them Buffy, they claim to have your mother."

Buffy was shocked but she grabbed the phone saying loudly into it. "If you harm my mother I swear I'll hunt you all down."

"Hello Slayer!" Nick greeted her in a mocking tone. "I want you to get to Louis and Newbury street in five minutes after I hang up. I know it's about three blocks from Giles' home but being a fit little girl, I know you can make it and come alone or your mother dies."

"I want to hear my mother!" Buffy demanded sharply.

"I figured that." Nick replied and a heartbeat later, Buffy hear her mother screeching into the phone.

"NO! They're going to kill you Buffy!"

"MOM!" Buffy shouted but her mother was gone as Nick spoke to her again.

"Five minutes Slayer. If you're not there in five minutes your lovely mom dies!"

Buffy heard the phone on the other end slammed down leaving her to listen to the constant low hum of the disconnected line. Almost in the daze, Buffy dropped the phone and started heading for the door.

"I have to go."

Xander stepped after her. "Go where? Buffy, stop!"

"They're going to kill her." Buffy muttered back as she reached for the door handle but only to be stopped by Giles as he placed himself in her path.

"Buffy, stop and talk to us. What is happening?"

"They have my mother and if I don't get where I'm supposed to be in five minutes, they threaten to kill her!"

"Just hand yourself over to them! Are you crazy?" Xander said. "They'll kill Joyce the second they get their hands on you!"

"I only have five minutes, what choice do I have? Hopefully I'll figure something out." Buffy answered desperately but she always did think good on her feet, maybe she can pull off another save again. "I must go now."

"Yes, you must go but not alone."

All eyes turned to Willow as she picked up the phone receiver from the floor and gently placed it back on the cradle. She had her game face back on, ready for action. Willow glanced towards Buffy.

"Someone needs to go with you."

Buffy shook her head. "No. If they see you Willow."

"Not me." Willow smiled and again almost on cue, from his resting spot on the back of Giles' table chair, the crow flew over and perched himself proudly on Willow's shoulder.

"Him!"


	6. Chapter Six

**Author****'****s ****Note:** Believe me when I say that I didn't intend to drop off the face of the earth and for that I am sorry. Life threw me a couple nasty curve balls and these stories became forgotten. Now I am back and wishing to complete them. I intend to finish Willow: The Crow and hopefully get around to The Lost Warrior.

Special thanks to my Beta Reader, Sapphire.

**Willow: The Crow**

**Chapter 6**

Buffy raced down the sidewalk along the streets of Sunnydale running as fast as her legs could carry her, knowing that her mother's life hung in the balance. The cult members holding her mother hostage threatened to kill her if she didn't follow their instructions to the letter and on time.

High above her, invisible in the night sky was Willow's spirit guide, the crow. Willow told her that whatever the crow sees, she can see it too. Buffy had to admit that the crow gave her the creeps, but now that black bird was her guardian angel. She was counting on it to keep tabs of her whereabouts and to bring the Scooby gang to the rescue when the time came.

After checking another street sign, she realized she was one block from the corner of Louis and Newbury.

Then up ahead, a shadowy figure stepped out from behind a tree and onto the sidewalk, blocking her path. For a second, she thought he was a cult member plotting an ambush but her Slayer instincts told her otherwise. Also, the demonic features and fangs were just one more clue as to who it was. Not breaking stride, Buffy barrelled straight at the vampire.

It growled in amusement at the petite figure running up to him. "Hello lunch. What's the rush…"

That's all he got out before Buffy cuffed him with a good right hook, knocking him flat on his back. Barely breaking stride, she sidestepped him and continued on her way to her destination.

**O-X-O**

At Giles home, Xander anxiously paced back and forth in the living room, before looking at Willow again who was sitting on the couch. Her eyes were nearly void of life as she focused all her efforts on tracking Buffy, by using her spirit guide as a surveillance bird in every sense of the word.

Willow suddenly let out a faint cry, her body tensing. Alarmed, everyone now turned their attention to her, wondering what happened.

"What's wrong?" Xander asked, hurriedly sitting back down beside her.

"A damn vampire looking for a meal…" Willow whispered as her eyes stared ahead, seeing something only she could see. "He tried to stop Buffy."

"Is she all right?" Giles asked.

A smiled crept across her lips. "She plowed right over him." Then she frowned with worry. "He's getting back up… I think he's going to chase after her."

"That's the last thing Buffy needs." Tara said.

Willow's brow tightened in concentration. "He won't get far."

**O-X-O**

Glaring in rage, the vampire started to rise to his feet to chase after his escaping prey when he heard a high pitch screech coming directly from behind. So loud, it sounded like a runaway death train. Terrified, he looked behind just in time to see the huge wingspan of a crow, aiming to try and take his head off.

The vampire flinched and ducked down as the crow shot over him. When the night crawler looked up from his crouching spot on the sidewalk, the bird was gone and so was the blonde girl.

"The hell with this!" He grumbled before standing up and heading off in the other direction. Getting knocked down by a girl was bad enough but getting his head nearly taken off by an attack bird? He decided to return home and not to press his luck. Tonight was not his night.

**O-X-O**

Buffy finally reached the street corner as instructed, and glanced about the darkened houses lining the streets at this late hour, wondering to herself. _Okay, __I__'__m __here. __Now__what?_

"_Slayer."_

She turned to the sound of the voice but saw no one.

"_Come closer Slayer."_

The voice was coming from a nearby sedan. As Buffy approached, she noticed a tiny two-way radio resting on the roof. She walked up and grabbed the radio, trying to control her anger as she spoke into it, pressing the talk button.

"I'm here."

"Get in the car. The keys are in the ignition and a map with directions are on the passenger seat. Drive to the area shown. And Slayer, do hurry." The voice over the radio taunted.

Walking around the car and opening the driver side door, she slid into the driver's seat. After closing the door, she noticed the map on the passenger seat as described and a camera mount on the dashboard, pointed right at her.

Buffy muttered under her breath. "Cute, and probably to be sure I don't bring any hitchhikers."

Glancing at the map, she then started up the car, flipping on the headlights and drove into the night. High above, the crow continued to follow her.

**O-X-O**

The map led her out of town to an abandoned open-mine pit. As Buffy drove, she didn't encounter any other cars along the road, which hit home as to how far out of the way this place was. It was isolated, far from prying eyes and any possible help. All the while, the Slayer prayed that Willow's 'better half' stayed with her. If not, this might end badly for her and her mother.

When Buffy reached the open-mine pit, the front gate to the shutdown mine was opened as she pulled in off the road and onto its grounds.

"You're on time," Buffy heard Nick's voice over the radio. "Drive straight ahead and park next to the yellow shed. You can't miss it."

Buffy obeyed as she looked left and right but she couldn't see anything beyond the headlights of her car. They were watching her. The Slayer realized and was at their mercy just as long as they had her mother.

As told, Buffy spotted the yellow shed and she parked along side of it. She grabbed the radio and spoke heatedly into it. "I'm here. Now what?"

"Get out of the car and to your left, walk in that direction." Nick ordered.

"Then what?"

"Just get walking Slayer."

Buffy looked outside of the car and could see only darkness. "Its pitch black out, how I am supposed…"

Suddenly, every light in the mine-pit switched on. Seeing the way lit now, Buffy murmured into the radio. "Never mind."

Stepping out of the car with radio in hand, she walked in the direction given, her eyes scanning to the left and the right, suspicious of everything and expecting to be attacked any moment. After walking two hundred feet, she reached the edge of the open-pit mine, which stretched out before like a giant sunken stadium. At the bottom she saw several spot lights set up on the floor of the mine pit. There she spotted an eighteen wheeler tractor trailer parked down there and in the middle of the mine floor she saw a figure lying prone and unmoving.

"Mom!"

Abandoning all thoughts of her safety, Buffy raced down a haulage road used by big dump trunks to remove rubble and the ore they were mining. Running as fast as possible, the mining road zigzagged left and right before Buffy reached the bottom of the pit, several hundred feet down.

Drawing closer, Buffy could clearly see the person lying, unmoving on the rough stony ground now. It was her mother but there was a sack covering her head and her right ankle was chained to a heavy steel post rammed into the ground.

Throwing the radio aside, Buffy dropped to her knees beside the still form of Joyce Summers. "Mom!"

Ripping the bag off her head, Buffy was relieved to see it was her mother and she was still breathing. She tried to shake her awake. "Mom!"

Joyce barely responded to Buffy's attempts to wake her. Her mother appeared to be drugged. The Slayer realized she had to get her out of here. Buffy grabbed the chain that was secure around her ankle with a heavy padlock and tried to break it but it was too strong. She then got up and went to the steel post the other end of the chain was attached to and heaved on it, trying to pull it from the ground but it refused to budge.

Suddenly, Buffy heard laughter coming from the radio that she had tossed away moments before, laying just a couple of feet away. Nick's voice taunted her.

"Unless you have the strength of a bulldozer, you won't be removing that post or breaking the chain anytime soon."

Buffy ignored him, and kept working on the chain with all her might. Again, Nick's annoying voice sounded over the radio. "I'm not sure if you can hear me Slayer but look up to your left."

With a frustrated sigh and unable to free her mother, Buffy glanced in the direction she was told and spotted seven brown robed figures standing on the upper ledge of the mining pit.

Slowly, Buffy released the chain and walked over to the radio, picking it up and speaking angrily into it. "Yeah, I can hear you _Dick_ and I hope you can hear me. I've made some mistakes in my life and the biggest one was not letting Willow go after you."

Looking down at Buffy from the top of the mine pit, Nick chuckled saying into the radio. "I was meaning to ask you that. How did Willow return from the grave? Was it magic?"

"Go and ask her yourself." Buffy growled. "But you know what, even if I don't make it out of here, I'll take comfort knowing that she'll still be here to deal with you Dick."

"How very mature of you to resort to name calling," Nick laughed. "Do you see that tractor trailer behind you?"

Buffy turned and looked at the eighteen wheeler parked just a hundred feet from her before asking into the radio. "Yeah and let me guess, there's something inside meant for me?

"You are a smart little demon hunter."

"Gee, thanks Dick." Buffy replied sarcastically. "Coming from a murderer, that means absolutely nothing."

"I'm going to enjoy watching the Volbalt devour you whole."

"Dick, being devoured by a demon might be better than listening to you for the rest of the night. Are you planning to talk me to death Dick?"

"Listen to me you little bitch…"

"No you listen, Dick!" Buffy hissed into the radio while glaring up at him. "You are a coward and a murderer who picked the wrong victim! Believe me when I say she's coming for you!"

"Are we still talking about Willow," Nick laughed. "Is that supposed to scare me?"

"I would be. I'm a Slayer and I don't kill humans. I wouldn't say the same thing about her."

Nick chuckled. "After we're done here, we'll be long gone. Your time is up."

Buffy silently hoped that Willow's bird was able to follow her and the cavalry was on its way. For now, she had to stall as long as she could.

"In that case Dick. I have one thing to tell you…" Buffy started to say when she heard the welcoming sound of fluttering wings. Still holding the talk button on the radio, she turned and saw Willow's spirit guide perched up on the steel post right next to her. Never had she dreamt that creepy crow bird of Willow's would look so wonderful. That means she and the others are not far behind.

The bird actually made eye contact with her and the Slayer had to smile before saying out loud to it. "Oh, I love you!"

Up on the ledge of the mine pit, Nick gave a puzzled look to the rest of his cult members. He could honestly say that he didn't expect to hear _I__love__you_from the Slayer over the radio. He was uncertain as how to respond. "Uh, that's nice to hear but you are still going to die."

From behind them came the sound of an approaching car roaring up the gravel yard as it skidded to a halt just thirty feet from them, leaving them in the glare of its headlights. They all turned as several figures jumped out of the vehicle and lined up in front of the car. The headlights were still on, making it impossible to tell who they were but Nick already had an idea.

A familiar voice came from one of the figures obscured by the glare of the car lights. It was almost a sweet singsong voice with a hint of menace laced with it. "Which one of you goes by the name of Nicky?"

"Willow Rosenberg," Nick said aloud, recognizing her voice. "Welcome back to the Land of the Living. I'm curious what deal you struck to make that happen."

Buffy's rescuers were now all lined up in a row facing against the cult members, five against their seven. The car headlights still made it impossible to see them clearly. They were just black outlines but he could tell that Willow was in the center of the group, directly in front of the car when she spoke.

"A girl never gives away her secrets Nicky but I will tell you this. If you and your little boy band surrender and confess your crimes to the authorities, I promise to only mildly beat you to a pulp."

"That's it," The leader of the cult laughed. "Just confess my crimes to the police? What if I and my followers refuse?"

"Then you are all going to die by my hand, sliced wide open and screaming like you did to me."

Nick paused for a moment, lifting his right hand to his chin. "In that case, I will carefully consider your generous proposal."

After a second, he sighed. "Fuck it." Nick then pointed his right hand at Willow and a bolt of lightning leapt from his finger tips, striking her. He watched with satisfaction as the woman fell into a crumpled smoking heap.

Tara and Anya were to the right of Willow and the young witch cried. "Willow!" She tried to go to her aid but the former vengeance demon stopped her.

"Wait," Anya whispered to her. "Trust me and just wait. They're the ones that are going to die and they don't even know it yet."

To the left of her, Giles and Xander looked briefly at her fallen form with concern but didn't move to go to her aid, instead wisely followed Anya's advice and kept their attention on the cult members facing them.

Nick glared at the Scooby gang in disgust. "You think you can make demands to me! I'm the one who discovered the Slayer's true identity! I'm the one who saw the true potential of the Vobalt! I clued in to the existence of the Initiative long before any of you! In the end I will harvest the power of the Hell Mouth under Sunnydale itself!" He threw up his hands and shouted. "I will crush you all like insects!"

Then a singsong voice with a hint of menace answered back. "Bored now!"

"Huh?" Shocked, Nick went to cast his eyes back on Willow's still form on the ground just before something struck him in the right shoulder like a fist. He was knocked flat on his back from the impact before feeling the enormous pain. Looking, he was shocked to see a handle of a knife protruding from his shoulder with its blade buried inside him.

Confused and grimacing in pain, he finally looked back towards Willow and saw her simply standing back up as if nothing had happened. Her right hand was still extended in his direction when she threw that dagger at him. It was impossible! He hit her with everything he had with that lightning bolt. Even if she wasn't human, there was no way she could recover that fast. Even the strongest of demons wouldn't be able to shrug that attack off so easily.

"Today is not a good day to be bad guy, Nick." Willow whispered.

Xander was unable to resist from chiming in. "Oh, someone is going to get it."

Nick struggled to stand. "What the hell are you?"

Stepping forward, Willow moved out of the glare of the car headlights and at last, Nick and his cult members could finally see her face and as he expected, Willow had changed. Her natural red hair was now jet black, and her face… Nick blinked in disbelief. It was white with her eyes and mouth highlighted in black and when she sneered at them, it pretty well made her the scariest thing to have ever walked in Sunnydale simply because she, whatever she had become, was after them now. Willow now stood within ten feet of the cult members.

Crouching and with his only good remaining arm, Nick fumbled for his right pocket in his robe with his left hand, pulling a small remote device. He yelled at his followers.

"We worked too hard to come this far to fail now. Stop her!"

All six of his followers paused, unsure what to do. Willow was far in the lead now, with Xander, Giles, Anya and Tara standing just twenty feet behind. In her left hand, down by her waist, Willow held her katana, still in its sheath.

Willow looked at the cult members and spoke in a seductive voice to them. "What's wrong, boys? Not used to your victims facing you. Oh, I can fix that."

Xander's jaw dropped as Willow turned her back on them before she said aloud. "Okay, take your best shot!"

Three cult members took her up on that offer and moved to attack. They drew long bladed daggers from her robes as they charged at Willow exposed back. Her weapon was still sheathed, leaving her defenceless. Or so they thought.

Xander opened his mouth to scream, to warn her but Willow looked at him and merely winked. Then he watched in one elegant move, she drew the katana in a single smooth stroke like she had practiced it a thousand times. Willow then spun her entire body clock wise with the cutting edge of the blade extended outward. Crouching slightly, she continued her spin as she ran the blade across the abdomens of the three attacking cult members.

Their horrible screams filled Xander's ears as the katana's razor sharp blade sliced their stomachs wide open. Their insides and the three cult members, to which the insides belonged, fell to the ground as Willow now stood over them, her sword dripping with their blood.

Xander blinked, it all happened in seconds. He was awestruck and terrified all in the same breath. Willow cut them down like wheat stocks and wielding that weapon like a samurai from all those martial arts movies he used to watch.

He heard someone vomit and he looked to his right and saw Tara doubling over. He couldn't blame her. Killing vampires is clean when they turn to dust but killing humans especially with a bladed weapon, is messy and ugly. Strange, he thought he would be happier seeing Willow dealing out justice to her murderers but he didn't feel like celebrating much. It also did little to dampen the anger he still felt because Willow was still dead. After this, regardless who wins her spirit guide will be taking her back after her mission is done. Nothing they do will change that.

Glancing past Tara, his wife, Anya watched with keen interest. Xander could also understand why, being the Crow is about vengeance, righting wrongs and this was in perfect step with her former past as a vengeance demon. She felt a kinship with the crow. Although, Anya's idea of righting wrongs is geared more towards cheating men.

Looking to his left and standing next to him was Giles who stood silently, watching with a passionless expression. Of all of them, Xander was worried about the ex-watcher the most. Ever since his 'mind-meld' with Willow, he had become a little withdrawn. Seeing Willow's final moments from her point of view, affected him deeply, regardless of his denials.

Years ago, Giles became a sort of a surrogate father to them all and he felt the same way about them. Now, one of his adopted kids was brutally murdered and he was given a window seat as to how it happened. How would something like that mess with someone's mind?

Xander had no idea how Willow exactly died and she wasn't telling and he really didn't want to find out but Giles knew first hand. The fact he watched Willow slice three of them down and he didn't so much as flinch bothered Xander. Giles was always the voice and pillar of calm reason but now, he was a monument for cold indifference and Xander didn't like it.

"Bitch!" Xander's attention was brought to Nick, as the cult leader cursed Willow.

"Oh, Nicky," Willow called out to him in a belittling and teasing voice. "Do yourself a favour and don't run. You'll just die tired."

"You fucking bitch!" Nick yelled again in pain as he pulled the knife from his shoulder and threw it on the ground. "You think you can beat the rest of us?"

"Nicky, don't make me cranky. You wouldn't like it when I'm cranky." Willow smirked and snapped her fingers at the remaining three cult members. She never even bothered to look at them before saying. "I'm giving you three a head start. Get running!"

The three robed figures just looked at one another before all hurrying off to escape. Willow just smiled at Nick. "Oh look! Us just became just _you_."

Nick was beside himself in rage at the betrayal his followers had so easily executed. His shoulder was hurting as blood slowly flowed from it, staining his brown robe… and this resurrected thing before him was now making a mockery of him. "You bitch!"

"You are so smart, Nicky! Yes, keep insulting the dangerous undead woman with the sword, why don't you." Willow now glanced to the rest of the Scooby-gang. "Go and catch the rest of his stooges. Nicky Boy here is all mine!"

Willow stepped over the bodies of the three slain cult members and towards Nick, twirling her sword. "Oh, how I have waited for this moment."

"You think you got me!" Nick raged as he backed away before pressing the button on the remote. "Think again!"

Meanwhile, down in the mining pit, Buffy was trying to figure out what was going on as she continued to try and free her mother. After Willow's birdie showed up, she saw the glare of headlights of an approaching vehicle shining behind Nick and his cult members. She assumed and hoped it was Willow and the rest of her friends finally arriving. Nick and his followers then moved out of sight. After a minute, she heard what sounded like a lightning bolt and Nick shouting something before he screamed. Then even more horrible screaming followed that one.

A minute later, Buffy saw a figure appearing at the ledge of the mining pit again. It looked like Nick and another figure that was stalking him and twirling a sword. It was Willow! The cavalry had arrived!

She suddenly heard a buzzing and a loud clicking sound coming from the eighteen wheeler behind her. Turning, Buffy saw the rear doors to the trailer section of it popping open slightly. Then everything was silent before the doors exploded off their hinges as this huge and ugly demon beast leapt from the trailer.

It roared and hissed as the monstrosity looked left and right before focusing on the Slayer who placed herself between it and her still unconscious mother. Buffy just stared up at it, eyes wide and jaw slack in shock and horror. The rough sketch in Giles' occult book didn't do the Volbalt justice.

Reaching behind, Buffy pulled a large bowie knife from the hidden sheath concealed under her jacket. She looked at her knife and then to the huge creature she was facing, before summoning up her situation in two words.

"Oh shit!"


End file.
